Chris didn't see much of his Hogwarts friends over the next few days. Hermione and Harry were spending all of their time working on a spell Harry apparently needed for the first task, but as it was a simple spell to call objects, a power Chris had possessed since birth, he had soon grown tired of watching Harry struggle, particularly as Wyatt had forbidden him from finding out what the first task actually was, and so he had chosen instead to stay in the Magic School common room with his brother and Callum, trying to complete the mound of homework they had all acquired and listening to Wyatt and Callum's perpetual argument about the first task and how much easier it would be if he knew.

His morals won through, however and by Tuesday morning he was still none the wiser about what he would be faced with that after noon.

"I can't believe we still have lessons this morning." Grumbled Wyatt as he helped himself to a mound of bacon. "I mean I'm about to face... whatever it is that I'm about to face, but instead of giving me time to prepare, they have given me double charms." Wyatt was having an even harder time learning how to use a wand than Chris, and it didn't help that of the three subjects he had with the Gryffindors, two of them were Charms and Transfiguration.

"What do you mean prepare?" Questioned Callum indignantly, "How can you prepare when you have absolutely no idea what you're about to face?" Wyatt shrugged, taking a large bite out of a slice of bacon instead of answering.

"I wish we did have lessons off." Groaned Chris as he frantically copied out a quote from his history of magic text book. Wyatt leaned over his shoulder, examining the hastily completed essay.

"I didn't know 'goblin' had a double 'b' in it." He commented, using his bacon to point to his brother's error. "And I can't be certain but I don't think that the historic uprising happened in 2056." He added, making Chris sigh in frustration as he scribbled out the mistakes just as Hermione and Harry came up behind him.

"Are you ready for lessons?" She asked, noting the slightly greasy essay before Chris. He nodded quickly, gathering up his books, parchment and quill, before following Hermione out of the hall, 'accidently' hitting Wyatt with his textbook as he left.

Lessons past strangely quickly that day, and it was clear no one's minds were truly engaged on the syllabus. Professor Binns, the History of Magic teacher, spent the entire lesson discussing the history of the Triwizard tournament, whilst Professor Flitwick decided to teach them some handy defensive spells, despite the fact that that wasn't even his subject.

During lunch, the Great Hall was filled with nervous and excited chatter as everyone contemplated what the Frist task could be and Chris saw that for the first time in his memory, Wyatt didn't appear to have much of an appetite, despite his and Callum's encouragement. Eventually he gave up eating at all, and turned his attention to his wand work, making final attempts to perform simple spells, before he left with Professor Lawrence to walk down to the Champion's waiting area.

It was a relief for him to escape the noise and distraction of the castle and to walk through the quiet grounds next to his teacher. Lawrence tried to engage him in conversation, firstly noting the various sites of beauty Hogwarts has to offer, before turning to the inevitable subject of what Wyatt was about to face and how he had the utmost confidence in his young student. Wyatt attempted to nod and smile at his teacher's words, but mostly he just stared fixedly ahead trying not to focus too heavily on what was coming. The wait, he decided, was far worse than anything he could actually be faced with.

They reached the edge of the huge forest which bordered one edge of the grounds, but just before the treeline, Wyatt spotted a large tent, blocking whatever might be behind it and that seemed to be where Lawrence was taking him.

"Good luck Wyatt"." Chirped Lawrence when they had arrived at the tent. He pulled back the tent flap and Wyatt marched as confidently as possible inside.

"Ah, Mr Halliwell, excellent!" Greeted a rather large man Wyatt recognised from his first few days as Hogwarts. Ludo Bagman was one of the judges in the tournament so he wasn't a bit surprised that he was at the first task. "So we're just waiting for our final and youngest companion and then we can get started." Wyatt nodded, turning his attention to the other two Champions. Cedric was passing up and down the tent nervously and didn't bother to even acknowledge his presence. Fleur on the other hand, whilst looking extremely pale and clammy flashed him a small smile and wave from where she was sat on a small stall in the corner. Wyatt wondered over to her, taking a seat nearby, but neither of them spoke, both too concerned with what was coming. Wyatt suspected that both Fleur and Cedric knew exactly what was coming, and their fearful expressions did nothing to build his confidence.

Eventually Harry too arrived and Bagman gathered all four of the champions around, explaining to them that they would each be taking it in turns to take the task, and that they would each need to collect a golden egg in order to complete the challenge. As Wyatt tried to imagine the sort of protection this egg may have, Ludo took out a velvet bag from his jacket and offered it to Fleur. Hesitantly, Fleur reached her shaking hand into the bag, and drew out a tiny living model of a green dragon with the number two round its neck.

Next, Cedric reached his hand in and drew out a bluish- grey dragon with the number one round his neck. After that, the bag was offered to him, and hesitantly he reached his own hand in, flinching slightly as tiny spikes suddenly embedded themselves into his palm. He quickly grabbed the first model he could find and as he pulled out a scarlet dragon with a number three round its neck which Bagman told him was a Chinese fireball.

Once Harry had pulled out a very dangerous looking black dragon with the number four, Ludo clapped his hands merrily and asked Harry for a word with him, so while Cedric returned to his nervous pacing, and Fleur to her spot in the corner, Wyatt hung around the entrance, waiting for Harry to come back inside.

A few minutes later, a whistle blew from somewhere in the distance, signalling for the first Champion, a very green looking Cedric, to face his dragon. He passed Harry in the entrance, but was too focused on what was to come to pay him any attention. Harry himself was looking similarly shaken, and this was not helped by the sudden raw of the crowd, signalling Cedric's arrival into the arena.

All three Champions were silent after that, and all that could be heard were the sounds of Cedric attempting to get past the Swedish Short Snout as Bagman commentated. Eventually tumultuous cheers were heard signalling Cedric's victory and then a few minutes later a second whistle was heard, calling Fleur to the arena and leaving the two boys alone.

"Are you alright?" Asked Wyatt quietly. Harry either couldn't or wouldn't respond with his voice, so just shrugged in response. "Anything I can do?" He persisted, and this time Harry responded with a simple shake of his head. Wyatt sighed, knowing there was no point discussing the task with the boy, so instead switches tactics. "You know, I once conjured a dragon." He commented casually, making Harry turned to him in surprise. "Yeah, I was about one, and was watching this TV show about dragons, then somehow conjured one to terrorize San Francisco for a day." He laughed half-heartedly, trying to ignore the gasps and yells coming from beyond the tent.

"What happened?" Asked Harry, his mind momentarily removed from the thought of the Horntail.

"Apparently it caused a load of damage for about a day until my mum and aunts figured out what I had done, and then mum almost got killed by the dragon just so as I would un-conjure it." He explained. He didn't remember the event at all, but he quite liked the tale.

"So what you're saying is that this is going to be the easiest task ever because you were able to deal with dragons by the age of one?" Asked Harry, not really sure of the point of Wyatt's story.

"Well no, that dragon wasn't real- not like these dragons any way. All I did then was undo my own magic, this time it won't be nearly that easy." Replied Wyatt, glad that Harry seemed calmer now that his mind was away from the Horntail. "Besides, I read that article, and I wasn't the only one performing unlikely feats of magic aged one. Didn't you vanquish the most powerful evil wizard or something?" Pointed out Wyatt. Harry Shrugged.

"Yeah, but that was more of an accident instead of actively saving my mum from a dragon." He pointed out. Harry went quiet after that, unable to get his mind away from the fact that aged one Wyatt had saved his mother's life, whereas at the same age his mother had had to die to save him.

"So have you got a plan?" Asked Wyatt after a while, once more trying to break the nervous silence. Harry nodded, but didn't give details. As nice as Wyatt appeared to be, they were still competitors and he felt he had enough of a disadvantage without giving away his plan to the Champion going before him.

"Do you?" He asked. Harry had seen the slight look of surprise as Fleur had pulled out her dragon, so suspected that Wyatt's friend who he had seen sneaking through the woods on Saturday had not been as forthcoming with the information as Harry had expected. Thinking that Wyatt was going to be forced to improvise on the spot, Harry was justifiably surprised when as large grin spread across Wyatt's face.

"Oh yes!" He grinned, just as the whistle blew, calling him to battle, and he strolled confidently out of the tent, leaving Harry alone.

Xx

"Dragons!?" Exclaimed Chris as he walked towards the arena with Hermione and Ron, "Are you serious." Hermione nodded her head, looking slightly concerned.

"You mean your brother doesn't know?" She asked, slightly horrified. "Harry saw his manticore friend sneaking after him into the forest on Saturday so he thought you already knew!" Clearly Hermione was very concerned for Wyatt, yet Chris couldn't help but grin slightly. If he knew Wyatt at all, he knew full well that this was defiantly a monster he could handle.

They took their seats besides Callum who was sat with Fred and George Weasly, with whom he shared Charms, and it wasn't long before the booming voice of one of the judges rang out, welcoming them all to the first task, and calling forward the first Champion.

All of the Hogwarts students cheered as Cedric entered the arena. He politely waved to everyone before turning his full attention on the bluish-grey dragon which guarded the Golden Egg he seeaked. Using a clever little spell, which Chris was certain should lead to some sort of personal gain repercussions, Cedric turned a nearby rock into a Labrador, which barked and growled and ran around the dragon almost distracting it long enough for Cedric to sneak past the dragon and grab the egg. Unfortunately at the last minute the dragon spotted him, sending a jet of flames towards his face, making him cry out in agony just as he reached the egg and completed the task. In no time at all, a group of about eight wizards had contained the now very angry dragon, and removed it from the arena, leaving space for eight more wizards to bring in the next one which this time was bright green and slightly larger. The judges shot ribbons into the air giving Cedric his score and then Miss Delacour was called into the arena.

She too received a rousing welcome, if not as loud as Cedric's, but instead of acknowledging the support, she kept her eyes fixed on the dragon, and Chris noticed how her hands seemed to tremble a great deal as she began chanting. Her words were almost song like as she gently edged closer to her goal. Chris could feel the power of the girl's charm from where he was sat and as his heavy eyes shifted to the other spectators; he saw many of them also struggling to keep their eyes open. It almost seemed like her plan had worked as well as the dragon was gently swaying, paying no mind to Fleur's movements towards the egg. Chris watched as the dragon's great silver eyes gently closed and then it let out a mighty snore, accidently sending shoots of flames out of its nose. Fleur's skirt had caught on fire, but she casually put it out with a jet of water from her wand and then she too had her egg.

And then it was Wyatt's turn.

Wyatt swaggered confidently into the arena, bowing slightly to the four bordering spectator stands, before lazily turning his attention to his own dragon. This one was even larger, angrier and spikier than either of the other two dragons and it eyes Wyatt with clear suspicion. Wyatt however paid no mind to its dirty looks and instead he pulled out his wand dramatically, beginning to make small circles in the air, muttering something very quietly under his breath.

"Is going to do what I think he's going to do?" Whispered Callum into Chris' ear. Before he could respond, Chris' attention was distracted by the sudden appearance of orbs filling the circle Wyatt was drawing in the air. By now the dragon was getting very agitated and it sent a jet of flames strait at Wyatt which surrounded him completely.

The whole stadium let out a collective gasp as the boy was consumed by fire, and yet when the flames cleared, he was completely unscathed, surrounded by some sort of blue shield and now appeared to be holding a sword.

"He must be mad!" Declared Ron as he gawped down at the loan figure, "Dragons can't be hurt by swords- it will just annoy it more!" The whole stadium seemed to be holding its breath as Wyatt spun the sword around his hand, grinning confidently up at the enormous creature.

"That's not a sword." Said Chris, leaning forward excitedly in his seat. Everyone around him looked over to Chris, hoping for an explanation.

"Excalibur..." Laughed Callum.

Wyatt meanwhile was very carefully approaching the dragon. Having not used the sword since he had been about eighteen months old, he was uncertain that it would be nearly as effective as he was hoping. Certainly the dragon didn't see it as anything particularly dangerous and it sent out another jet of flames.

This time however, Wyatt had no need of his shield as the flames seemed to simply be deflected by the sword, keeping the wielder perfectly safe. Wyatt lashed out strongly against the dragon, sweeping the sword in long arcs which just caught the leg of the dragon making it cry out in pain. Now it was the dragon that was moving, carefully trying to keep out of the reach of the powerful sword without leaving its eggs exposed. Wyatt swung out again, this time only hitting thin air, but the movement spooked the dragon even more, and it shot back a few more pace, accidentally crushing one of its own eggs. By now Wyatt viewed there was enough space between the dragon and the golden egg so, still holding out the sword defensively before him, he strided over towards the egg, picking it up in one hand and showing it off to the crowd.

The noise was unbelievable as everyone was not only applauding but yelling to one another about exactly they had all witnessed. Callum was cheering the loudest of them all and he, like Chris, was paying no attention to the surrounding Hogwarts students who were all clamouring for answers.

Wyatt gave an extravagant bow, directed purely to the judges, before marching confidently out of the arena, leaving the terrified dragon to be lead away by its handlers. After a minute the judges all held their wands into the air, releasing numbers which twisted into ribbons. As no one was really certain what they had just witnessed and as a few of the real eggs had broken, none of the judges gave him full marks, but he did end up with the very respectable score of forty, leaving him in first place.

Last up was Harry. Like Wyatt, he didn't have the skill with a wand to face the dragon alone, and so instead of a sword, he called for his Firebolt and soon he was soaring high into the air, baiting the large fearsome dragon to chase him. It took a while as the mother was clearly concerned with protecting her eggs than squatting the fly which was Harry, but eventually after only a slight injury from her tale, Harry was able to coerce the dragon from her nest, before diving down past her and seizing the egg faster than even Wyatt.

As he was injured, he was sent to the medical tent to be bandaged up before he could receive his score, so Hermione, Ron and Chris decided to go and meet him and Wyatt. As soon as he was in sight, Hermione sprinted off towards him, closely followed by the two boys who all darted into the tent past Madam Pompfrey.

Chris called a quick congratulations to Harry, patting him on the back as he went to find Wyatt. He was sat in a chair, looking tired but grinning wider than ever.

"Did you see me?" He asked excitedly the moment he saw his brother. Chris nodded, rolling his eyes at Wyatt's pride. "I mean, I knew that sword was the real thing, but I had no real knowledge whether or not it would really do anything to a dragon you know." He explained, practically dancing around the small tent as the adrenalin caught up to him. "I thought about trying telekinesis or another power first, but then was like- no, that would just anger it so went straight for the sword and... well..." Chris just nodded again, glad that his brother was so fine and unscathed. By now Ron, Harry and Hermione had left the tent to check out the score, so Wyatt and Chris followed suit.

"You're tied in first place Harry!" Congratulated one of the dragon handlers who looked two suspiciously like Ron to not be one of his many brothers. "You and Halliwell!"

Wyatt's grin had lessened slightly now that he was tying with a boy who was the same age as his brother, but he still shook Harry's hand gracefully, before leading him back to the Champions tent as they had been instructed by Bagman.

Ron followed after them, but Hermione's inquisitive nature had finally gotten the better of her, and she could wait for answers no longer.

"Excalibur?" She asked, holding Chris by his arm to keep him from following his brother, "Explain!"